Veggie Volunteers Complete 2nd Successful Year

A team of 93 community volunteers organized by Carroll County Extension Master Gardeners picked, washed, boxed 12,500 pounds of surplus vegetables from Sherman Farm in East Conway and distributed them to food pantries and senior meal programs throughout the county last summer.

Their generosity served more than 23,000 vegetable meals valued at more than $15,000 to residents of Carroll County who might not otherwise have had access to fresh vegetables.

Organized last year as an Extension Master Gardener initiative, the Veggie Volunteer Program (VVP) links volunteers with Sherman Farm, a diversified dairy, livestock and vegetable farm whose community-spirited owners had long wanted to find a way to get their crop surpluses to people in need.

In addition to the fresh food it distributes, the VVP offers important educational benefits. “Volunteers from the community get to see a working farm in operation,” said Carroll County Extension agricultural and environmental stewardship educator Tina Savage. “Many people are unfamiliar with how and where vegetables grow. Visiting the farm helps them develop an understanding of the value of working farms, local food and open space.”

This year the VVP expanded to include an after-school program, called the Sprouts. “Children in the program learned about human nutrition, plant nutrition, food safety, and the food guide pyramid,” said Savage. “The Sprouts finished up with a trip to the farm to help with the harvest and tour the whole operation.”

Future plans for the VVP include writing and publishing a how-to manual that will help other counties and other states develop similar programs.

Donating food in New Hampshire

The New Hampshire Food Bank, which expects to distribute nearly 4 million pounds of food in 2004 to emergency food pantries and soup kitchens throughout the Granite State, can provide information about where to donate food in your community. Call 669-9725.

Hunt for the Hungry
The Food Bank also manages a program that accepts donations of whole or processed game animals. Call 669-9725 for information.